Ignorance is bliss, and Sakura soon learned the bitterness that can sometimes come with knowledge. Her body had experienced the most intense climax of its short life, and her mind had been so ensnared in the orgasm that it too felt the desire to duplicate the experience. The problem was that Sakura could never exactly copy the feelings Ino had been able to provide her with. As the weeks went by and Sakura had yet to cum as hard as she had with Ino's help, It made Sakura uncomfortable that she began to believe that maybe she required Ino to achieve the high she felt before. Sasuke's skills were improving, and it seemed he was suddenly much more interested in her pleasure, but it was never enough. Sakura found herself spending their entire time in bed wishing Ino was with her, showing her what to do. Too ashamed to talk to her friend about what she was thinking, Sakura began to distance herself from Ino. It wasn't too difficult as Ino was doing the same thing to Sakura. The orgasm had sparked something Ino, something terrifying and unidentifiable. Before, she had only been lonely without Chouji and could deal with an empty bed. Now, however, she found herself craving the sex she had with Sakura's body. She had felt all of it as if it was her own body, and more. Ino found every inch of her body yearning when she saw her friend, and it scared her. The two girls kept drifting apart. And then, just when the wall between them was almost complete, Chouji came home. His mission had been hard and dangerous, much more so than he was actually qualified for. Chouji came home on a stretcher. He had been forced to take two of the three pills his family used as a last resort for strength, knowing full well how much those pills taxed his very life force. When Ino saw him lying under Tsunade's healing hands, the Hokage's face crinkled in determination, she felt her heart plummet. The unexpected love in her life had been gone for so long...too long, and now he lay wounded in front of her eyes. What she needed, to be wrapped in his strong arms, comforted by his deep voice, she couldn't have. When Sakura saw her friend crying, she felt something akin to jealousy. Ino was crying for Chouji. Now that Chouji was home, Ino was going to spend much of her time with him. In fact, with his injuries, Ino was going to be with him non-stop until he was fully healed. Sakura knew that she should be happy for her blond friend. She knew she should be thrilled Chouji would live and probably suffer very few injuries. But she was angry, because although she had been distancing herself from Ino she had felt secure knowing her friend was all hers and available. Now Ino was neither. Instead of comforting Ino, Sakura went home and buried herself in her studies. - - - - - - "Ino, I thought by now Sakura would have come by to see me. I've been home for almost two weeks. Where has she been?" Chouji sat in a chair by the window. Tsunade had healed him, but he required crutches to move around so as not to split open his slow-healing wounds. "Er, I don't know, I'm sure she is just busy with her studies." Ino began to pick up the room, not wanting to look her lover in the eye. The atmosphere had been different in the apartment since Chouji came home. It was stiffer, and she felt as if she was wrapped in a blanket of guilt. Her daily meditations had turned into a time to rationalize. She rationalized not telling Chouji what had happened. After all, it was between her and Sakura and there was no point in upsetting her already weak boyfriend with something that wasn't a big deal, right? She rationalized why she shouldn't feel guilty—after all, she had only been helping out a friend, she didn't do anything wrong. Ino had remained completely chaste in her body the whole time Chouji had been away. For every doubt she had, every inkling of guilt or suspicion, Ino had an answer ready for why she had not actually done anything wrong. "Is something wrong between you and Sakura? Did something happen while I was away?" Ino had to fight gasping. Forcing herself to breath evenly, she remembered what she had already planned to say if he asked. Yes, I invaded her mind and fucked Uchiha Sasuke with her body. He was a complete let down but somehow I experienced the most incredible orgasm of my life. I think it was because of Sakura, and now I am scared because I don't know what that means or what I should do. "Sakura dated Shikamaru, but it didn't work out on both sides. Which was ok because Uchiha Sasuke stepped in and...swept Sakura off her feet." "WHAT? You mean Sasuke is actually dating someone? And Sakura, no less? I always pegged him as gay. Or a-sexual." Forcing a laugh, Ino sat down next to Chouji. She wanted to want him again. His sweet face and disposition, his calm and his innocence. He loved her, she knew, not just because of how she looked but because of who she was, flaws and all. But Ino found herself having a hard time returning that love fully. She still felt affection for him, but she couldn't maintain attraction to him. The first night Tsunade allowed Chouji home, Ino had straddled him, making love slowly. She had cried, and Chouji had pulled her into his chest, stroking her hair and comforting her. He was there now. He was safe. He was still alive, they were still together. Everything would be ok. But Ino wasn't crying just for those reasons... She was crying because she realized it would never be the same. "Apparently he isn't gay, and Sakura has been spending most of her free time with him." "Well good for her! She has wanted that bastard since we were in academy, and I thought she might die a spinster waiting for him. I'm glad I was wrong about my assumption of his character—both the gay and what an asshole I thought he was." Crawling delicately into Chouji's lap—she didn't want to hurt him—Ino lay her head on his chest, her hair spilling over his stomach. Tears began to slowly trickle down her cheek, catching and collecting on her chin. When they became too heavy, they splashed onto Chouji's arm. "My sweet Ino, I'm sorry. If Sakura was so busy with Sasuke, that must have meant you were lonely. I'm so sorry. I never meant to be gone so long, to be so far from you." In her chest, Ino's heart was clenching and her throat was closing from trying keep in her tears. But breathing became too hard, and when her realization hit her, the dam broke. Ino fell asleep in her boyfriend's arms understanding that she was, in fact, guilty, and that she did not deserve him or his sympathy. Then she was very lonely, indeed. - - - - - - Uchiha Sasuke had never fallen in love in his life. The only person who had ever been close to him was that baka Naruto, and that was only because the loud blond shinobi had forced his way into a small chink of Sasuke's heart. People in the village had assumed he was a loner. They blamed his attitude on his brother. They had hated him for his skills as a ninja and his unique bloodline. After his stint with Orochimaru, they mistrusted and even hated him. Now that he was dating Sakura, however, people treated him differently. The rest of the village became friendlier while Naruto became more competitive. Konoha's loudest ninja magically found ways to be louder and more obnoxious when Sasuke was around, and it was grating at the Uchiha's nerves. When Sasuke walked through a door and an eraser fell on his head, it was the last straw. Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing, recalling when he had tried the prank on their sensei, Kakashi, and Sasuke had claimed that no true ninja would ever fall for such a dumb prank. "What is your problem, Naruto?" "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOUR FACE, SASUKE!" Naruto was still laughing, much to Sasuke's irritation. "I can't believe you would try such a juvenile prank." Sasuke brushed chalk dust from him and waited for Naruto to shut the hell up. "TRY? SUCKER, I DIDN'T TRY, I SUCCEEDED! YOU FELL FOR THAT!" "Baka, I don't have time for this." Sasuke turned to walk away, but Naruto grabbed his ankle. "Wait, wait. I'm sorry, don't go. I...I want to talk with you, Sasuke." "If it is another stupid prank or joke, I'm not interested." "Its not. Its about...Sakura." Sasuke looked down at his teammate with an eyebrow cocked. Naruto sat up and waited. Sighing, Sasuke sat down beside Naruto. "What did you want to talk about?" Naruto took a deep breath. It was hard for him to have serious conversations with Sasuke. In fact, he could count the number of times he had ever seriously approached the Uchiha, and in three of those Sasuke had been literally trying to kill him. "Why did you decide to date Sakura?" "I don't have time for this, Naruto. Keep your petty jealousy to yourself." Sasuke began to stand up, but a strong hand gripped his wrist and forced him to remain seated. When Sasuke looked at his friend, cold blue eyes let him know that Naruto expected him to make time and that more than mere jealousy was on the line. "Uchiha, this is important to me. We are going to have this discussion." Rolling his eyes, Sasuke tried to look nonchalant. "I decided to date Sakura because I desired her. Isn't that why most people begin relationships?" "That isn't enough, Sasuke. What made you desire her? You've treated her worse than you would your enemies for years, and as her friend, I need to know what made you change your mind." Closing his eyes, Sasuke thought. He didn't have an answer. Why had he decided to date Sakura? Memories came back. Memories of Sakura laughing, holding hands. Of her blushing and kissing and making jokes. All with Shikamaru. It had been envy that had motivated him. Uchiha Sasuke had grown up competitive, having an older brother to constantly compare himself to. Even without Itachi, the desire to be the best, to win had never faded. "I hate losing, Naruto, and I did not want to lose her." Sasuke left out 'to another man.' Naruto nodded. He knew that Sasuke had lost his entire clan and his relationship with Itachi. He assumed Sasuke meant he did not want to add Sakura to that list. "Is that all, Naruto?" "No. How are things....you know...going with you two?" "Everything is fine." "Sasuke..." Shifting position, Sasuke pondered Naruto's question. How were things going with Sakura and him? He had thought he would break up with Sakura during the first bit because she was doting on him all of the time. But...she didn't dote on him anymore. In fact, ever since they first consummated the relationship, Sakura seemed to be less and less interested in him. The truth was, although they were trying many new things in bed, Sakura seemed to grow even more distant each time they slept together. There had only been one night when Sakura had seemed so into him, into what she was doing...and yet she had never seemed to be fully there with him, like she was thinking about something else...or someone else. Sasuke seethed a little at the thought of Sakura lusting after someone else. He hated the idea, again, that he was losing to someone, that someone was pleasing her more than he was. "Things are...ok, Naruto. I...am trying to learn how to please her—" "WHOA!" Naruto was a deep shade of red and frantically waving his hands at Sasuke. "Too much information!" "Dobe, you are the one who asked me." "About your relationship! Not the intimate details!" "There is more to pleasing a woman than bedroom activities, and I was talking about learning to please her as a whole." "Oh, sorry, please, uh...continue?" "No, I've had enough. It is time for me to go train. Alone." Sasuke got up and made to leave, when Naruto caught his wrist again. "One more thing, Sasuke. I have come to accept that Sakura is happy with you. I can let her go, if I am letting her go to a good man. But if you hurt her..." "Hmph." Sasuke shook his arm free and left. The conversation with his teammate had not been something he had expected, and it had left him thinking too much about his relationship. During the entire time he trained, Sasuke became more and more angry. When he remembered his times sleeping with Sakura, it became more and more apparent to him that she was not as pleased as she should be. Though she had become bold, telling him what to do, taking control sometimes...it did not seem anymore like she wanted to please him, but that her mind was elsewhere. In his mind, Sasuke began trying to figure out who the bastard was that Sakura was thinking about. After all...Uchiha Sasuke was not about to lose to some guy without a fight. - - - - - - Ino would be impressed, Sakura thought. That night, Sasuke had come home in a foul mood, and the sex had been furious, but acrobatic. Every time she had started to drift off in thought, thinking about the times with Ino, she had felt his eyes on her. It was like he knew...Sasuke rode her hard and it had actually not been half bad. He is getting better. Better wasn't as good as that time had been. When Sasuke had finally orgasmed, he had watched her to see if she got off, too. She did, small as it was, and she began to celebrate a successful orgasm without thinking of Ino. That was, at least, until she ironically realized that celebrating about "not thinking about Ino" meant she still was thinking about Ino. Sighing, Sakura rolled over and pretended to fall asleep. She missed her friend. Several times Sakura had almost gone to visit Ino and Chouji but stopped at the last minute. She used excuses about not wanting to disturb their time together and about how she didn't want Ino to feel weird about what they had done in front of Chouji. What we did. The truth was the memory of that one night, that first orgasm was consuming her. Sakura found that more and more she could think of nothing else. Before it had just been while she was with Sasuke, but slowly the thoughts were invading her every day life. Even Tsunade had begun to notice how Sakura's mind always seemed to be somewhere else. Deep inside, Sakura knew what she wanted. She knew that it was wrong, and hurtful. But she didn't know how long she could go on ignoring the stirrings she felt inside. - - - - - - It took Chouji a little effort to reach the front door. The knocking became insistent. "One moment, I'm almost there!" He hobbled on his crutches, reaching the door and grabbing the handle for support. One he found his balance again, he opened to door to greet the unexpected visiter. "Ohayo, Sakura! What a pleasant surprise! Come in, come in!" He had to shuffle a bit to get out of the way as the pink haired ninja stepped delicately into the apartment. "Come into the kitchen, I just brewed some tea!" Hauling himself on the wooden crutches, Chouji limped into the kitchen where Sakura had spent many nights talking to Ino about sex and Sasuke. "Er...Ohayo, Chouji. Is...is Ino in?" Sakura was reluctant to follow, her whole body wanting nothing more than to turn and run. "No, she isn't, but please come visit with me! You've been mysteriously absent since I returned home. Come tell me how things are going with you and your stoic boyfriend." Chouji turned and winked at her, waving her to the table where he had set out an extra cup. Reluctantly, Sakura walked in and took a seat. Chouji poured them some tea and then slowly lowered his body into his chair. "How is the healing coming, Chouji?" "It is coming, though slowly. Still, Tsunade is pretty amazing. This is the second time she has healed me after I took those pills, and she has done a great job. The whole mission left me weak, but I should be ready to go in another two or three weeks." "That is good. Tsunade is an impressive healer and a good teacher. I am glad she can do so much for you." Sakura took a sip of her tea, hoping her hand wouldn't shake and betray how nervous she felt in the presence of Chouji. She had come after finally getting the nerve to tell Ino how she felt, what she wanted. She had rehearsed the speech over and over again in her mind and marched straight over, and this, this chit-chat with the very man Sakura knew she could be hurting, was not in that plan. "So, Sakura, I'm interested in what it is like to date the infamous Uchiha Sasuke. You know, that boy has put a lot of ninjas in this village through a lot of grief. Hell, he put you through the most grief of all, you and Naruto." Choking a little on her tea, Sakura tried regain her composure. What Chouji said was true. He knew from experience—he had been a part of the team that went to retrieve Sasuke from Orochimaru, and had almost died in the attempt. She was preparing to lie to him, to tell him what she told everyone, that everything was wonderful with Sasuke, but Sakura looked at Chouji. She saw in his big eyes compassion and a genuine interest in her, not just Sasuke. She understood that he wasn't really asking about her boyfriend, but about how she, Sakura, was doing. "Thank you, Chouji. I am learning...the difference between realities and dreams. I lived for so long with the idea of Sasuke, of this wonderful romance he and I would have, of how I would change him and make him happy. And a part of that was me never believing he would...he would actually want me back. But then, all of a sudden, he did, and I was prepared for that ideal relationship. Now that he is my boyfriend, it isn't what I thought it would be at all and...I am still trying to learn how to adjust." Lowering her eyes, Sakura let out a huge breath. It felt good to tell someone how she really felt. Chouji had just sat and listened to her, his face open and understanding. "You know, I went through that a bit with Ino." Sakura jerked up, looking at him. "Y-you did?" "Hell yeah. I was a fat bastard, and everyone assumed I was more interested in food that girls. That may have been a little true, even. I was so in love with Ino, and she had always let into me about my weight, that I assumed she would never love me. When she and Shikamaru were together, I tried to be happy for them and put away my dreams of ever being with her. And then, they broke up, and all of a sudden she was there, wanting me, and I couldn't believe it. Who would ever have imagined this beautiful, intuitive kunoichi wanting someone like me? When we started dating though, I began to discover that even Ino has her flaws and that it was not going to be as picture perfect as I had imagined. It took some adjustment, Sakura." Wide eyed with amazement, she looked at him. "Thank you, Chouji. I am sorry for assuming you wouldn't understand. But you do understand, completely." "What does he understand?" Sakura turned around to discover Ino leaning against the doorframe. Her heart leapt a bit with fear, realizing that all her talking with Chouji had made her lose her nerve. "Ino! How long have you been there!" "Not long enough to hear what my boyfriend had to say about me." Winking, she crossed the floor and gave Chouji a kiss on his cheek. Sakura sat, speechless, unable to decide what to do next. She saw them, then, the couple that no one would have ever expected. He was calm and beaming, she was so beautiful and caring. Sakura wished she had never spoken with Chouji. His understanding had not made her feel better...it made her feel like shit. Because Sakura had no choice. She had to ask Ino the questions that burned inside of her or Sakura might lose her sanity. And in doing so, she knew how much she might hurt him... "So, Sakura, didn't you come here to see my lovely Ino?"
Back to Practice Makes Perfect Index - Back to Naruto Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction